Power Struggle
by Lov.0R.Lus
Summary: Darkness can not be destroyed only contained. There are stories of a girl who killed the most powerful warlock in history and then slaughtered an entire coven of witches thereafter. The story goes that the magic she absorbed from the warlock seduced her and turned her mad with power. The magic that then consumed her proved to be too great and nature stepped in and created balance.


**March 16, 1713**

_All things dark began with a purpose._

Her use of dark magic had brought them there. 24 of the world's greatest witches had gathered to perform a cleansing of the young witch that stood trapped in the circle before them. She had committed crimes against the witching world, the greatest offense being that she had slaughtered an entire coven with a killing spell and absorbed the magic of each witch for herself.

"You witches can kill me, but you'll wish you hadn't." The young girl spat, her emerald eyes turning darker with every word she spoke. A light breeze blew around her, a sign that the magic within her was deepening its hold on her. The sense of betrayal surged throughout her body as she looked upon the group of people that surrounded her. Some familiar faces gazed back on the young girl that they had come to know and love as Cosette Delacroix. She had long sense abandoned the sweet caring girl she once was, in favor of a dark and sadistic sociopath that relished in taking the lives of innocent witches and warlocks.

"We're not here to kill you child!" One of the elders proclaimed as she lit a candle and passed it on to the next witch. "If we kill you with the darkness still inside of you, then there is always the possibility that you can practice on the other side and cause a true disruption in the balance of nature." The elder spoke again.

"Well then you might as well kill me because there is no way I'm giving up my power!" Cosette screamed.

"Cosette! Please let them help you!" She heard her mother plead from the balcony above. Cosette turned her head up towards her mother, the same green eyes that she possessed peered back down at her. Full of begging and hurt, she could see her mother's heart break with every second that passed. "What don't you get mother? I don't want to be helped!" The anger that had been burning inside her was now full blown rage and her eyes had now turned completely onyx. It seemed as though darkness had completely taken over her soul.

There was fear in the eyes of every witch that stared back at Cosette. She was going to do whatever it took to keep them stripping her of her power. The darkness had consumed her entire being and it wasn't likely that what the witches had planned would bring her back. "You all should be thanking me! I'm the reason that bastard Fredrick is gone! We no longer have to live under his rule!" Cosette began to pace the circle she was contained in as she looked on at the faces that surrounded her. "Wasn't that the whole point of me practicing dark magic? You all made me this way and now you wish to destroy me!" The young witch stood in her place and began to channel the energy from the earth around her.

"We never meant for you to become what you are!" Cosette's eyes shot back up to the balcony where her mother stood, tears streaming down her perfect caramel colored skin. Coleen Delacroix wasn't an emotional woman but seeing her youngest daughter in a state of complete madness was breaking her heart into a million and one pieces. She felt guilty for it was her who gave the okay for her daughter to practice dark magic. Coleen had not expected things to go this far though. "Fredrick should have never been your responsibility. I should have known that tampering with dark magic affects even the strongest willed person, like yourself my darling." Pleading with Cosette was no use. Coleen could see it in her eyes. Her daughter was gone.

"I am going to kill you all, and if not you then your ancestors will pay. Even if I have to do it from beyond the grave!" Cosette spoke calmly.

_Revienda! _

* * *

**Present Day**

Marcel Gerard was a man of many of things; honor, integrity, mystery. The list could go on forever. One of his best qualities was his ability to maintain a loyal following. If he wasn't a vampire he would have made a damn good mayor.

However, with the recent turn of events, the biggest being the return of the Mikaelson's the original vampire family, a lot had changed. New Orleans no longer felt like his home, his kingdom. Klaus, his sire/ friend/ enemy had turned his home upside down and was ripping apart the foundation he had laid out brick by brick. All he could do was sit back and watch.

If it hadn't been for Davina and his loyal following of vampires he probably would have just left a while ago. He wasn't that type of man though, one that simply walked away and let those that devoted themselves to him sit and suffer.

Besides, Klaus had promised they would rule together and once upon a time, Klaus' word actually meant something. Marcel hoped that it still did.

"You'll never guess who just set foot in the quarter." Thierry said in pure shock as he walked through the door of Marcel's compound.

Marcel could not help but feel annoyed. If another surprise guest showed up in New Orleans he was going to go on a massive killing spree just to make sure no one else turned up. But still there was nothing worse than Mikaelson's return, so he was sure that whoever the person was that decided to show their face in the quarter would only prove to be a minor annoyance in comparison to them.

The mocha skinned man stood and crossed his arms over his chest and gestured for Thierry to share his newest discovery. "Who now?" He asked with annoyed anticipation.

"You're old girlfriend. Cosette Delany and get this, she doesn't look any older than she did when she left New Orleans." Thierry looked on to his boss, waiting for some sort of reaction or direction but was only met with unbelieving eyes.

Marcel hadn't seen Cosette since the 1960's and her departure wasn't on the best terms. They had been great lovers and there was a time when she had promised to be his wife. But the two differed on how they were to spend their lives together. Marcel wanted to turn her so that she would be the way she was eternally. She saw no point in that. When that discussion came up, she threatened to kill every vampire in the quarter before ripping his heart out with her bare hands if he turned her. It wasn't long after that, that the couple split and he never heard hide nor hair of his deranged ex-girlfriend from that point on.

Her return was puzzling at best because as far as he knew, when he had checked for her whereabouts he discovered her to be dead and the location of her grave. "It can't be her man. Cosette is dead. I had one of the guys check into it remember?" Marcel shrugged off the thought of his ex-fiance coming back from the dead. "She was a witch man. You never know." Thierry offered up as another possibility. "Oh come on T. She was hardly a witch. She couldn't have practiced magic even if she wanted to. And you and I both know that coming back from the dead for anyone never works out."

Yes he knew Cosette was a witch, but more than that she was an ex- witch. He didn't know the details, only that she performed a killing spell to save her coven and then was betrayed by the ones closest to her soon after. For the 2 years he had her in his life, he could never get her to open up to him about that aspect of her life. All she ever said was that magic was a part of her past and she wanted nothing to do with it.

That part he never believed but she always insisted that magic is what ruined her so he never pushed to know more about her past and why she despised magic so much.

Thierry looked on to Marcel, who was clearly in denial and trying his hardest to convince himself that Cosette Delany was still dead. "Besides, no one would want to resurrect her. Cosette had no living family and she was bat shit crazy."

"But you loved her." Thierry laughed.

That he did. He loved her almost as much as he had loved Rebecca at one time. Cosette was legitimately crazy, there was no doubt about that, but she was also light and fun. She had a certain way that she looked at the world and it was almost artful. She didn't believe in darkness, only purpose. Although he never quite figured out what she meant by that. She simply explained it by saying _all things dark began with a purpose_.

But still… "How could she still be alive? I mean even if she was never dead, that was almost 50 years ago. I know witches age slow but they do age." His curiosity was getting the best of him. He needed to be sure if she was back in town. He had a bad feeling about her being here if it was even her, while the originals we're lurking around the quarter. "Where was she headed when you saw her?"

"It looked like she was stopping in Sophie Devereaux's café." Thierry said, immediately knowing that his boss would become suspicious of her going to see Sophie. He had worked hard to get the witches under his control, the last thing he needed was a crazy ex-girlfriend coming in and unraveling all that he worked for. "What do you wanna do about her Marcel?" He asked. "She would we have the guys get rid of her? Because if memory serves she wasn't the most stable and you already have one crazy ex strolling through the quarter."

Marcel honestly did not know what to do. Cosette, at times, was unpredictable at best. It wasn't like dealing with the Mikaelson's, he always had an idea of what to expect from them, but Cosette was different. Sure she was calculating and at times she could come off as conniving but she never gave reasons as to why she did the things she did and they always happened at random times. Her reappearance was just as random as her disappearance. Whatever she was back for, he had to find out without rattling the cage too much.

"Find her and tell her to meet me at our place outside of the city." Marcel ordered.

* * *

Cosette gazed around the French Quarter, it was just as lively as she had remembered it to be. It had been about 50 years since she had last been in New Orleans and not much of it had changed. A lot of great things had happened to her in this city, one being getting the information she needed to figure out how to get her magic back.

She had explored Expression a bit, a form of magic, which was mostly dark related but it wasn't the same as having her full-fledged power back. Expression was child's play, parlor tricks at best, in comparison to her natural abilities. She had lined up all her ducks to get in the position she was in to gain access to the magic that would get her, her powers back and the time was finally here.

But first she needed to speak to the witch by the name of Jane Ann Devereaux.

As she walked through the quarter she spotted a familiar face. One that she had long since forgotten about. A rush of memories came back to her as the familiar face smiled and began to walk in her direction. Cosette instantly knew that this wasn't a coincidence.

"Thierry. Funny running into you here. Excuse me for being surprised to see you still alive after all of these years. I guess you are a survivor." Cosette eyed his suspiciously as the young looking man stood before her, a sly smirk, plastered upon his face.

"It's funny. I could say the same for you." He played back. "We thought you were dead." He added coldly.

"Dead as one can be for a witch with no magic and an apparent immortality." She shrugged. It was true, she wasn't sure if she was immortal but she definitely wasn't interested in finding out. "Lets cut to the chase. I'm no fool but I would have to guess that you're here on behalf of one Marcel Gerard. Am I right?" Cosette asked as she crossed her arms across her chest. "That was fast. What did you do? Spot me and go running right to your boss?"

"Marcel wants to meet up with you Cosette. Things are different around here and you being back puts some things at risk." The young blue eyed man explained.

"What if I don't care to see him?" She asked sarcastically. It was 50% true. She wasn't there to see Marcel… mostly. She had a mission to complete and only had until the end of harvest to complete it. But she was curious to see how her old beau was doing.

"He's pretty eager to see you. At one point in your surprisingly long life that meant something to you." Thierry seethed through his teeth.

"You two are pathetic. I have no business with Marcel. I'm just here to enjoy the city." She lied.

"Still, he wants to see you. He said to meet him at your special place outside of the city tonight." And with that Thierry was gone. Perks of being a vampire. Cosette smirked at the thought of her ex beau wanting to see her. There was a point when she was thought she was madly in love with Marcel. That was until she realized he was getting in the way of her plans to get her magic back. For whatever reason Marcel had it out for witches and as a former witch with plans of regaining her power she knew they were doomed as a couple.

Of course he knew she was a powerless witch, which meant, in his mind they could be together because she posed no threat to him, but there was that day that he offered to turn her into a vampire. Things weren't the same after that.

Cosette sighed. She should have known that Marcel was going to pop up sooner or later. Of course she didn't expect him to pop up that soon.

* * *

OKAY I REVISED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE I HATED IT! SO I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT! I am keeping it a secret of who she will end up with. Of course it will be revealed over time. However It will still be between Marcel and Klaus.

Let me know what you guys think. This story is obvi in an AU and I promise next chapter will be longer and will include at least one of the originals.

thanks for reading and reviewing in advance!

X0X0


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